The Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation has founded a sovereign debt focus group to create practical guidance for financial institutions to integrate nature considerations into their sovereign debt strategies. The new group features 17 FfB members, including banks, asset owners, asset managers and insurers. It will be chaired by Gaëlle Blanchard, ESG Analyst – Sovereigns and Supranationals, at Amundi Investment Solutions. “While existing nature frameworks focus primarily on corporate assets, there remains a critical gap in assessing sovereign assets on nature,” she said. “Sovereign issuers also lack clear guidance on integrating national nature strategies into debt instruments. This focus group will bridge that gap and drive progress at the intersection of nature and sovereign debt.” The foundation was established in 2021 to facilitate collaboration between financial institutions via working groups to reverse nature loss this decade. The group will assess how countries’ recent National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and national biodiversity policies align with financial market expectations, as well as examining natural capital flows, key economic sectors, and their role in global biodiversity. The focus group will support FfB’s Finance for Nature Positive programme, providing financial institutions with tools to align investments with nature-positive goals. It will also inform FfB’s policy work, including engagement with policymakers. “Investors have yet to fully consider the impact of sovereign debt on nature,” said Anita de Horde, Executive Director of the FfB Foundation. “To align financial markets with global biodiversity goals, we need practical tools to assess how countries affect nature – especially for developing nations seeking private sector nature funding.”
